


At the Burning Edge of Dawn

by RisingShadows



Category: 1917 (Movie 2019)
Genre: M/M, Somewhat established relationship, They're low key in a relationship but like it's a war
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-26
Updated: 2020-03-26
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:29:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23333146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RisingShadows/pseuds/RisingShadows
Summary: William Schofield drifts, but he has a task to complete.
Relationships: Joseph Blake & William Schofield, Tom Blake & William Schofield, Tom Blake/William Schofield
Comments: 3
Kudos: 40





	At the Burning Edge of Dawn

Will drifts. Water weighing at him, pulling him under just as efficiently as the exhaustion that made his limbs like lead. Weak against the current that dragged him onward. Pulling at clothes and limbs. The cold of the water clinging to his skin as he shook through his exhaustion. 

He had somewhere he needed to be. Someone he needed to find. 

Blake would know. If he were here, he’d drag Will from the water and remind him of exactly what he needed to do. He’d probably have managed to do it without ending up in the water to begin with. But then again, he’d left him bleeding. 

Maybe he’d made it. Maybe the medics that had found them had managed to keep him alive long enough to reach an aid post. Maybe, maybe, maybe. Will really was starting to hate that word. 

His attention snaps back to the present when he chokes, jerking upwards as he gasped for air. Lungs burning as he dragged at the branch beside him. Eyes fluttering closed for a moment as he tried to will himself to move. 

He just wanted the chance to rest. 

Eyes drifting open once more he stared upwards, the sunlight slowly streaming through the trees as he drifted. But it was something else that drew him. Blossoms falling like snow as he watched, drifting down to settle in the water around him. 

Blake. Cherry tree’s.

“Looks like me...a bit older.”

He’s relying on him. It’s that thought that jolts him into action. Jerking away from the tree limb with a gasping breath water still pulling at his arms as he dragged himself through the water. Over the dead that piled against a tree that blocked the river. 

Out of the water even as he choked on air, gasped for breath even though there was no more water to drown him. Shaking as he stumbled dropping to his knees as he gasped once more curling forward as he tried to steady himself against the sudden howling grief. 

He had to keep moving. Knees weak beneath him as he stumbled. Tried to understand where he was, trees surrounding him, the river at his back. And a voice echoing softly through the trees. 

Clearer the more he stumbled through the trees. Calming as he put his shoulder to one tree and slid slowly to the ground. Listened enraptured to the soldier that stood surrounded by so many men. 

Maybe he’d already failed. Maybe he was already too late. 

He was shaking, cold still clinging to his skin as he tried to set his mind straight. A dull ache from his hand, a splitting pain in his head. 

You can’t be in pain if you’re dead. He couldn’t have failed yet. Not until he wasn’t breathing any longer. 

The song ends the soldiers rising to their feet around him and Will considers getting up. Eyes drifting past them as he blinked slowly. Tried to focus as some turned to him. 

A minute later and he was stumbling to his feet. “We’re the Devons.” Echoing in his ears and the surprised calls of the privates fading out through the roar in his ears. He hasn’t failed. They haven’t gone over yet. 

He has to find Mackenzie. 

The trenches sprawl in front of him and failure claws it’s way up his throat as his breath catches. He doesn’t let it stall him. Pushing it down as he shoves his way through the trenches. First to a Lieutenant voice raised as he gives his men their orders. Then to a captain. 

“Where is Colonel Mackenzie?”

Snarling as he turned away Will stumbled, forced himself to breath through the roar in his ears. Terror seizing his chest as he shakes himself, forces himself to push on. Stumbling through the trenches with one goal in mind. 

“Three hundred yards. He’s in a cut and cover.” The Lieutenant glances down the trench. Turns to him with narrowed eyes and Will already knows what he’s going to say. “You’ll have to wait until the first wave goes over.”

He can’t wait. He can’t. There is only one other way. One path that he can make it by. He takes his place. Looks up, over. Breathes out the terror that had slowly been choking him. 

He can’t fail. Not when he doesn’t even know if Blake made it. 

“You can’t possibly make it that way man, are you bloody insane?” The Lieutenant turns, and he sees the realization pass across the man’s face at the same moment that the roar in his ears dies. He looks back just long enough to see that man’s face change before he pushes off. “NO, NO, NO, NO!” 

He only has one chance to make it. He doesn’t slow down. Not when he trips, slamming to the ground as another soldier slams into his side. Stumbling to his feet as they stream out across the field and he pushes on. Parallel to the trenches as he trips, rolls, from the impact of another soldier. 

He’s nearly there. Nearly close enough. 

The dive into the trench knocks the air from his lungs as he stumbles. Shoulder bouncing against the wall of the trench and the sharp stabbing pain in his head spiking. White and black dancing in front of his eyes as he forces himself to breath. To push on. 

It isn’t much of a surprise that Mackenzie doesn’t want to listen. Glaring at Will like he had personally wronged him by simply making it to them alive. The letter clutched in the hands of a Major. 

He calls off the attack and Will nearly collapses there. Hand clenched against the dull ache. Every beat of his heart sending a stabbing pain through his head. The Colonel watches him for a moment. Orders him away with a few words and a glare as Will tries not to shake too noticeably. 

The Major is the one that stops him. Catching him by the arm as Will tried to put together what would come next. Turning exhausted eyes on the man as he spoke. “Well done, lad.” 

For a beat he stares at the man. Blinking slowly as he tries to string words together long enough to remember what needed to be done. “Thank you, Sir.” Another moment as he blinked, Blake’s voice echoing in his ears as he remembered exactly who he needed to find. “Do you know where Lieutenant Blake is, Sir?”

The Major pauses as he looks him up and down once more before speaking. “Blake?”

“There were two of us. I was sent here with his brother.” It hurts. Hurts to acknowledge and he can’t afford to hold to hope. Not now. Hope is never useful in the trenches. 

“Ah.” Understanding passes across the Majors face at the same moment that Will manages to drag himself free of his own grief. Throat closing as she tried desperately to keep himself quiet. “Well, knowing Lieutenant Blake he would have gone over with his men. He was in the first wave.”

He may have still failed. Even now, even after he’d made it. “How could I find him, Sir?”

“You can try the casualty clearing station, behind the line. Otherwise…”

The nod he offers the Major is a stilted thing. His hands shaking at his sides as he breathes in harshly and offers his thanks. Stumbling away, following after a number of soldiers all of whom are hopefully going to the same place he needs to. 

The casualty clearing station is filled with injured men. Some are silent. Unmoving save the slightest rise of their chests as he stumbles through. And some aren’t, begging for help or at the very least an end to the pain. Crying for whatever they’ve lost to the war and the battlefield. 

None of them look like Blake. None of them can be his brother. 

“Now come on boys. He’s taken one in the leg. He’s lost a lot of blood.” The voice rattles through his ears. Recognizable in a way it shouldn’t be as he stumbles. Turns to blink at the back of an officer not that far away. 

“Lieutenant Blake?” He doesn’t hear his own voice through sudden roar in his ears as he stumbles. Blinking at the man as he turns and frowns back at Will. 

“Yes.” When the man turns to blink at him Will sways, staring as he tries to gather his thoughts, to decide what should be said as the man’s face slowly transforms into a frown. Taking a slow step toward Will as he tried to catch his balance. “Do you need medical assistance?”

The question catches him off guard, shaking him free of his own indecisiveness as he blinks away his own grief to meet the man’s eyes. “No, Sir. I’m from the 8th.”

“What the hell are you doing here?” It’s an honest question so normal that it almost pulls Will completely back to himself as he drags in a shaky breath and blinks away a wetness that fills his eyes for a moment. 

“I was sent here to deliver a message-” He sees the moment that Blake recognizes where he’s from. Stepping towards him as he smiles. 

“The 8th? You must know my brother.”

“I was sent here with him.” 

“Tom’s here? Where is he?” He sees the smile drop as he closes his eyes for a moment. Dragging in another breath as he steadies himself against another spike of pain in the back of his head. 

“It was very quick.” He knows he’s lying through his teeth as he looks back at the man. “I’m sorry.” He has no doubts that Blake knows that he’s lying as well even as the other man nods back. 

Wordless as his eyes fill with tears. Face shuttering as he tried to contain himself. The rings in Will’s pocket seem so much heavier when he pulls them free. Offering the bloody rings to the elder Blake with a shaking hand. 

“What’s your name?”

“Schofield, Sir.” He can already tell that the other man hadn’t heard his answer. Eyes locked onto the palm of his hand as he stood there. Breath shaking with every exhale. 

“I’m sorry... what?”

Will swallows his own grief down once more as he breathes in to answer. “It’s Schofield, Sir. William Schofield. Will.” He sees the man nod once more. Turning to look at him as the two both drew themselves back together.

It isn’t long after that when Will stumbles away. The elder Blake’s permission to write to his mother a heavy weight in his mind. Like that water that had dragged at his limbs. Like the promise to make it here, to find his brother. 

The tree at his back, the bark digging into his spine as he breathes out slowly. Let’s his head fall back to rest against the tree as he breathes. It’s easy to ignore the pain pulling at him. The dull ache of his palm, the sharp stabbing pain of his head. 

Both drifting away as his eyes slide shut and he drifts like he had in the river. 

It’s hours later before he opens his eyes again, the sun fading from the sky and a hand on his shoulder dragging him from his own exhaustion. The pain fading back in as he blinks up at the man shifting to block the sun from his eyes. 

“Hey there Schofield, thought you might need some food in you.” The voice is soft, drifting between them as Will tries to place a name to a face and finds himself staring at a dead man for a moment too long. Tripping on his tongues as he finally realizes who crouched in front of him and his breath caught in his throat. 

“Lieutenant, you shouldn't-” the cough cuts him off before he can finish. The elder Blake steadying him as he shakes, the world spinning around him. 

“Wow there mate, why don’t we get you checked out? Seems you took a hit to your head here.” The brush of fingers against the side of his head only earns a soft hum. His eyes sliding shut as he hums his acknowledgment. Head dropping forward in the hopes that it will ease some of the pain. 

“There's a chance.” It’s a whisper that slips out before he can stop it. His hands shaking as the older soldier begins to lift him from the ground. Dragging one arm over his shoulder as he heaves Will to his feet and Will sways for a moment. World spinning once more. 

“A chance?”

“Tom, there’s a chance. He wasn’t, wasn’t-” He shakes for a moment, everything around him spinning save the presence at his side and feels the way hands tighten as they hold him upright. 

“You aren’t certain, Tom might be?” The voice is a whisper in his ear that he can’t place for a moment. Tom looking up at him as he sways and then Joseph’s face is there again. Wide eyes watching him as he nods. 

“An aid post, they said they’d take him.” The man nods as Will speaks. Face shifting as he tightens his grip ever so slightly. Frowning again as Will sways and shakes. 

“Well, I think you need to see an aid post don’t you? Might as well take you since I believe I’m in charge till we’ve returned you to the eighth.” Will blinks back at the man as they start walking. Taking all of Will’s focus as he stumbles, one foot in front of the other and the other man supporting most of his weight. 

“An aid post?” Something about that sounds important. He can’t place why now, save that they said they’d take Blake to one. That maybe an aid post would be able to help where Will couldn’t. Where the medics could only do so much. 

“Come on now, one foot in front of the other Lance Corporal.”

He blinks once and they forge on. 

The truck Blake manages to get them on is packed to the brim with injured men. Though Blake isn’t the only one without an obvious injury. The older Blake son sitting beside him as if he was meant to be there. Distracting the men with them exactly as the younger Blake had done with the eighth when he’d had the time. 

It’s a startling comparison to watch when everything around Will is still spinning if he moves too fast. Thinks too hard. 

The aid post is what looks to be an old estate, Joe as he had told Will to call him for now, carefully helping him up the stairs as he stumbles. Abandoning him to the orderlies that walked out to tend to the soldiers brought by the truck as he disappears into the post. 

One nurse carefully guiding him to sit on a cot as she watched him. 

“Now, a head wound I can see and a bandage on your hand? We’ll need to clean both before we do anything else do sit still for me.”

The first touch to his head is too much, pain spiking behind his eyes as everything whited out and his breath caught in his throat. Drifting on the pain as the world around slid in and out of focus, 

Hands slowly cleaning the wound on his head before drifting to his hand, his palm aching as the woman cleaned it slowly. Rolling him onto his back a moment later and turning away as he tried to catch his breath and make sense of what was happening around him. 

The woman disappeared between one blink and the next drifting away just like everything else around him. Another blink and it was a face he recognized that stood over him, reaching out to take his hand in theirs as they smiled. 

It took a moment for the words to make it through the haze that still held his mind. The hand tightening slightly as if to drag him out of it even as the man’s name finally came to him once more. 

“Tom’s alive Schofield, he’s here they made it. They say he’ll be sent home in a few weeks. And now that they’ve seen you-” The words slip away from him even as his eyes slip shut. Tears filled his eyes as he caught his breath once more, the grief that had swallowed him whole replaced by a desperate hope as he tried to push himself to his feet.

Strong hands on his shoulders pushing him back down carefully as Joe fell silent, holding him there lightly as he shushed Will’s attempts to explain. To explain why the other should let him up. 

“Just wait a moment Schofield, let me catch a nurse so they know where we’ve gone then I’ll help you over there.” The shaky nod he managed earned a breath of relief as Joe swung around, waving down a nurse in only a moment as he walked towards her. 

Watching as the man spoke Will tried to follow the conversation, eyes drifting shut as he tried to keep up with what the older Blake was doing. A hand on his shoulder dragging him back to the present as Joe slowly pulled him into a sitting position. 

Carefully pulling Will to his feet and waiting as Will steadied himself. Somewhat better than he had the last time Joe had pulled him upright.

“There you go Schofield, now Tom’s this way just tell me if you need a rest.” 

The door he pushed through led into another large room, beds surrounded by curtains from wall to wall as Joe led him towards the back corner. Pushing the curtain aside as he quickly dragged Will the last few feet to carefully drop him into the chair that already sat at the side of the bed. 

Sitting upright in the bed, Tom Blake smiled back at him. The curtain swinging closed as Joe took his leave and Blake reached out one hand. 

Shaking and pale, but alive as Will stumbled back to his feet and towards the bed. His own hand shaking as he caught Blake’s in his. 

“Hey there Scho, look like you’ve been to hell and back. Why don’t you uh-” Shifting as much as he could Blake wasted no time pulling Will down onto the small cot beside him. “There that’s better yeah.”

“Yeah.” The whisper was all he could manage as he leaned his head forward, Blake’s grip tight in his own as he pressed their foreheads together. 

Pulling back Blake smiled, a slow gentle thing as he pulled Scho down and more onto the bed. Settling Scho’s head on his shoulder as soldiers occasionally did when it was cold in the trenches. 

“I’ve got you Scho, just rest. I’ve got you.”

Will blinked slow and long as he breathed in. Shaking against Blake’s side. 

For a moment they stayed like that, Blake smiling down at Will before he leaned in just enough for his lips to brush Will’s ear as he spoke. Careful of any eyes on them as he pressed his lips to Will’s forehead. 

“Will, I’ve got you. I’m here. We made it.”

The whisper was barely audible even to him, but it was enough, His eyes sliding shut as he curled into Tom’s side. The pain sliding away as Tom curled one arm carefully around Will’s shoulders and held. 

“I’ve got you, you can sleep now Will.”

The curtain protecting them from prying eyes as Will tightened his grip on the other’s hand and shifted. Careful of the bandages he could see peeking through the clothes Tom wore. 

“I know Tom. I know” 

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be another 1k one shot and then it just didn't end so yeah here you go. Hope you like it, it isn't quite like most of the other stuff i've been writing recently so idk how it turned out.


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